Markets

Jennifer Johnston will replace Tom Walsh, who is retiring on Dec. 1.

Municipals continue to rally as market participants get ready to head into a quiet holiday week.

Large blocks of New Jersey paper changed hands with yields that pushed spreads below 100 basis points on some maturities for the recently downgraded state.

Jobless claims rose and existing home sales surged, underscoring the uneven and sporadic nature of the COVID-19 pandemic recovery.

Sarah Mitchell, CFA and a portfolio manager at Mondrian Investment Partners, talks with Chip Barnett about one of the hottest sectors in the municipal bond market today – green bonds – and the possibility of the U.S. government issuing a sovereign green bond. (20 minutes)

The Finance Committee signed off on new money, refunding, and scoop-and-toss debt restructuring deals and finance teams to assemble and sell the bonds.

A supply/demand imbalance allowed New Jersey and Massachusetts to reprice to lower yields while the beleaguered New York MTA will head back to the Fed for liquidity.

Two vaccines seem effective and nearly ready for use, spurring talk of a return to normal.

The state's uncoordinated approach to allocating private activity bonds and funding affordable housing let $2.7 billion of authority go to waste, she said.

The strong demand amid a dearth of new municipal issuance by states and a reach for yield also allowed New Jersey to skip a planned taxable portion and officials announced it would not need to access the Fed's Municipal Liquidity Facility.